The Puppy Dillema
by ScottyBgood
Summary: Tori has always wanted a puppy, but never could have one. But now, living with her girlfriend Jade, she has worked up the courage to ask for one. But what will she do when there are problems that will delay the discussion for at least six months? How will Tori deal with the puppy dilemma? Set in collage. One shot.


Disclaimer: I don't own victorious or any of it's characters. I don't even currently own a dog. No money or dog biscuits are made from this story, which is for entertainment purposes only.

:}

Tori was pacing. Not that she was usually a pacer, that was more Jade's thing, but today she wanted to be ready. She was gearing up for whatever argument her lover was going to have against them expanding their little "Family." Possibility swam through her head, each possible reason being countered, sooner or later, by a counter argument. It was nerve wrecking. Tori tried to calm down, but Jade would be home soon, and she had far too much energy to just sit down and wait. So she paced, her heals off so as to not ware herself out before her lover arrived.

'Just relax, it's not like asking my dad. No, this is Jade, who loves me, and loves the things I do to her when I have her bent over… No, I love the things she does to me when she has me bent over the table. I gotta remind myself, I'm the man in bed, she's the man everywhere else.' Tori was glancing nervously at the door, waiting for her girl to arrive and things to set off. 'Okay, we start with logic, then emotional manipulation, then we withhold sex. Only, I love the way we make love, and I don't know how long I can hold out. Maybe if we try something else.. No, it has to be a puppy.'

The Vega family, like most, had been filled with requests for pets all Tori's life. From the time Trina had killed a string of goldfish, to the request for hamsters cause they were "So cute," to the rabbit incident, ('Who knew there were rabbit shelters?') The Vega family had never had a long term pet. It turned out that Holly was allergic to pet fur, and the pets she didn't have a problem with took a great deal of effort to keep alive.

Despite the moratorium on "Real Pets", like dogs or cats, there was a small pet burial ground in their back yard, where seven gold fish and three hamsters were supposedly buried. 'Dad told me, years later, they they could use the same grave, over and over, because after we'd gone to bed they dug them up again and flushed or tossed out the carcases. We were kids, sad, weeping kids. I'll bet they didn't even put the bodies in the box they were supposed to be burying them in.'

Tori had always wanted a puppy. She'd spent days begging, trying her every expression, from cute to mad to cutesy mad, and none of it worked. She had promised to take care of the animal, love it and walk it and keep it in her room so that her mother wouldn't have to deal with the pet hairs, bit still nothing. 'Almost nothing. Dad had me help out with the police dogs a couple of times. Fun, I loved hugging them and showering them with affection. Too bad the I never once got to keep any of them.'

Jade, it turned out, had owned a string of pet bunnies. All she had to do was help out her neighbors bunny farm. Tori remembered Jade describing the last time she helped out at the farm, the day she discovered there was more to raising the bunnies then feeding them and watering them and cleaning out their cages. 'Turns out they breed like rabbits.' Tori thought, before letting herself lose it at the joke. 'Okay, that was dumb, but hay, you gotta love that Jade, as a child, learned so much about life from her neighbors garage.'

Tori sobered up, quick. 'Learning things like where babies come from, and that some animals are raised for food. Poor Jade, she told me how traumatizing it was when they asked her to help out with the slaughter of the rabbits. How she watched as they killed the cute bunny, then they skinned it, hung it up, and started processing the skin. Jade said it was the fourth most traumatizing thing of her young life. Bunnies are one of her soft spots, something she loved, and I'm sure if I was asking for a bunny, I wouldn't be plotting to seduce her and refuse to go any farther then getting her worked up until she agreed to get me a puppy. I mean, thats just wrong, and mean, and maybe the only way my girlfriend will agree to get a puppy.'

Tori walked back and forth, anxious for her lover to arrive. To take her mind off the problems, and just how much she wanted a cute little puppy, she once again busied herself wit the arguments against having one. 'They need to be house trained, and thats a lot of work. They need to be fed, and loved and constantly given attention. There are families that get two or more dogs because the kids have an easier time caring for the dogs if they can have the dogs keep each other company. Then, we'd have to work, hard, at controlling the teething, and not letting the dog go around ripping up the furniture. I'd need to check out what every cute pillow I might think of buying was made of, and give the dogs chew toys. And, of course, the puppy will grow up into a dog. Thats it's own set of problems. Plus, we kinda live in an apartment. If we were renting a house, it'd be better, giving the dog a chance to go out and play. But people living in apartments have dogs. Happy, healthy dogs that don't tear the place up the moment their owners are out of the house. People have well trained puppies that learn where they're allowed to go, and where they have to stay away from. It's possible to train the dogs to be good, obedient, loving companions that don't turn the apartment into a big doggie disaster area.' Tori sighed. 'Yea, there are a lot of good reasons not to get a dog, and still, I want one.'

The door opened, revealing the goth in all her glory. "Kill me now." Jade said.

"Is your favorite coffee place closing?' Tori asked.

"My boss, at my bullshit internship, went and decided to do a movie with a dog as a main character." Jade said, looking frazzled. "And who do you think gets the lovely job of watching the dogs, yes dogs, between takes? Me. Not the trainer, who has to help the one being used in that shot figure out the routine we need them to do, or the assistant director, or one of those production assistants, but me, who's already shown she's more valuable then any of his useless assistants. No, it's me, cause he knows I'm in a very nice dress, one he requested I ware, and that being around two large slobber machines will only add to my dry cleaning costs. And don't get me started on cleaning up after the dogs. I mean, I swear, he knew we were going to be shooting with animals, so why the hell didn't he realize that animals poop. And I, in my expensive shoes that he insisted upon cause 'combat boots just aren't professional,' get to clean up after them."

Tori had smiled, just a second, at the reminder of how good Jade could be with voices. The one she'd made for her impersonation of the director was one she hoped he never once hears, being so whiny and effeminate. Tori hesitated, then plunged in. 'I hate taking the bate, but she'll wait for me to ask, and we won't talk about anything else until she gets this off her over developed chest.' Tori smiled, and in her most innocent voice asked "Dogs?"

"In many movies, they have one, maybe two dogs they use for the part. But not this one. No, the director found a group of dogs that look alike, and uses different once of these ginormous slobber machines for different parts of the film." Jade ranted. "One has," Jade swapped back and forth into the director voice she'd developed, "'Great personality', so we use that one for the close ups. Another is more physical, and was trained for the running and jumping and interacting with the various actors,. And you'd think that those two would be enough, not counting a stuffed stunt dog, but no, he needed another dog to use for interactions with actors that didn't involve getting physical, one with 'personality, but more of a look.' I swear, no one knows what he means any more. But, I get to look after the two not being used in any one shot, and it's maddening. I just hope that they figure out how to have someone else do that for the remaining eight weeks scheduled for this project."

"Eight weeks, huh?" Tori asked, her hopes dashed by unruly dogs.

"Can you believe that?" Jade asked. "He's chizzing working with animals, and children, and he planned short shoot. The man must e out of his mind. I think he'll need twice that amount of time to get it done, maybe longer."

"And you already hate dogs." Tori whined, not aware of how she sounded.

"No, I don't hate dogs." Jade snapped. "Maybe if I did, they'd have assigned the task to someone else. But no, they asked me, and then told me that this was in addition to whatever other duties I have on any given day. So I'm stretched thin, taking care of the dogs, who need constant attention, and doing my job, which I'm not even paid for, and all because I mentioned I like dogs."

"You do?" Tori perked up immediately. "You really like dogs?'

"Not as much as I like bunnies, but yea." Jade remarked. "I've always wanted one."

"They say two are easier to care for, if your in and out a lot. Just feed them and water them, and give them occasional love." Tori tried.

"No, you have to still give them lots and lots of attention." Jade corrected. Thats when the actress looked at her live in girlfriend. "I take it you were planning on asking me for something?"

"Not after a rant like that." Tori said, sitting down in a huff. "And probably not for another half year, at least." Her head whipped around to glare at her lover. "How long until you can stand to be in the same room as a dog, after the shoot?"

"T...T… Do my ears deceive me, or did my girlfriend, Tori 'miss perfect' Vega, just let me know she wants a dog?" Jade stammered out, her hand on her heart.

"No making fun of me." Tori snapped, her glare intensifying, and unintentionally making her cutesy mad face. "It's just, I've always wanted a puppy, and my mom, she's allergic…."

"Funny, I've always seen you as more of a cat person." Jade said. "You look like the type who wants an independent pet that thinks it owns you, and will scratch you to get you out of bed so it can sleep in the warm spot."

"Ha, ha." Tori deliberately laughed slowly, emphasizing her sardonic mood. "I was here, ready to do anything and everything to get you to agree to getting a puppy, and you had to go and work for a sociopath who likes to torture you for no apparent reason."

"Anything?' Jade asked, her face breaking into a wide smile. "Well, daddy could use a cuddle bunny to help him clean all that slobber off..."

"Not unless that slobber belonged to my puppy." Tori huffed. "Sorry, but until I feel better, there will be no cuddle bunny's in this house." Then, quickly, she corrected herself. "I know, apartment. Screw it, I'm going to lay down."

All Jade could do was watch her go, feeling like she'd just had to deal with those large slobber fountains all over again. 'Talk about bad timing.' She thought, trying not to be too upset at this turn of events.

It took Jade a little over a week to get Tori over the disappointment of their situation. It wasn't like Jade said no. Instead, she'd been forced, by circumstances, to delay their discussion for what looked o be six months, minimum. Tori was down, depressed, and it showed in her appearance, even her class work slipped, just a touch. Mason, her boss and the man running Neutronium, wasn't going to let that sadness just slip by, and had her working with a songwriter to come up with some more material for her demo tape. After all, sad songs are still songs, and the emotion will show through in her work.

Tori tried, but it felt so wrong writing songs about not getting a dog. Yes, she was depressed, but the music she was coming up with sounded like she was denied a child, or a lover, more then the snuggle opportunities of a cute little ball of fur. Andre, however, just marveled at the pain. "Damn, girl, did something happen between you and Jade? Cause, being honest here, I'd send Trina to mess her up. Me, I'm a lover,,not a fighter."

"Exactly how bad did she mess you up?" Tori asked. 'And while we're at it, when did Jade ever mess you up? I mean, that girl, with you, she's always been more bark then bite. But I can recall, it was like, one day she just got to you, and you were intimidated from that time on."

"She just grew on me, just how scary she could get." Andre argued. "I mean, even Beck, he got more and more scared of her, and absolutely nothing scares him."

"Nice try, now spill." Tori said, smiling. "Start with when, and go forward from there."

"You remember that whole stage fighting scam she pulled on you, real early in your time at Hollywood Arts?" Dre asked. "Yea, after I told you, she kinda shoved me in a locker."

"She shoved you in your locker?" Tori was emanating a great deal of disbelief. "Locked you in the faculty restroom, maybe..."

"Nope, she thought that was too exposed." Andre said. "She used the locker of some random kid we'd come across, cause it was there and open and everything, and just tried to wedge me in. But you remember how small the lockers at Hollywood Arts are, right? No way I was gonna fit, so eventually she had to give up. Hurt like anything, however."

"She really tried to shove you in a locker?" Tori asked. "I mean, they have bigger ones in the locker room, she could have tried it there."

"So glad you weren't there to offer such helpful suggestions." Andre said, smiling. "She wound up locking me in the faculty restroom. Wasn't there long, thanks to Misses Hoovers weak bladder."

"She had a weak bladder?" Tori asked. "That would explain her strange bulge around her hips during senior year. She probably went to adult diapers."

"Not gonna comment on that." Andre said. "Just, whats up between you two, anyways?'

"I want a puppy, and her boss is making a movie with dogs." Tori explained. "So I can't even ask until their done making the film. And she gets to play with the dogs their using, every day, while the movies filming, so I'm left out alone, puppy-less, without my cuddle buddy for between classes."

"Thanks the gods, I can stay out of this one." Andre said. "No offense, Tori, but I hear they have rentable lockers at her studio. I don't wanna know how much fifty cents can hurt."

Tori walked into the apartment, ready to sulk around some more. As much as she'd come to love Jade, just knowing her girl was going to be smelling of dog made it hard to be around her. Tori wanted to help, comfort Jade about the often demeaning jobs she got as an intern, except how could she when that job was what was keeping the two of them from getting a cute little friend to play with, take on walks, and cuddle with at night. Tori had fantasied about what she'd do with a dog, both large and small, for years. This, while just a setback, hurt more then Jade saying no. If the goth said no, then at least Tori could have argued her case.

Jade was at the kitchen table, going over yet another document. "So, more work from the set?" Tori asked, trying to sound enthusiastic. She was failing.

"Nope, this is our lease." Jade replied. "It has a no pets clause, so I'm trying to figure a way to break it without having to pay the balance."

"Okay, you do that..." The singers voice just stopped working. 'Did she say there was a no pets clause? And she's looking to break the lease?' Tori was almost shaking when she asked "And why would we want to break the lease? It's not much, but it's in our budget, and it's convenient to a lot of places we like to go."

"Really?' Jade asked. "I thought it was continent to a lot of places I liked to go to. Half those places, I can't get you to walk there without inviting Trina to come practice singing here. Hmmm, maybe that would get us kicked out?"

"We just arrange for someone to sublet the place." Tori huffed. "So why break the lease? It's not like we have another place to live, right?"

"That, my dear, is where you are wrong." Jade singsonged. "The producer I'm working with, one of his other directors is going over seas for the next two years to film a series for one of the off cable channels, and I agreed to watch his place, including the dogs he got but cannot take with him. Not the same as having your own puppy, but we take the money we save in rent, and the money he pays us to watch his place, and we save up for our own place. And, should we decide we like dogs, this guy said we could even bring our own, as long as it gets along with his puppies."

Tori almost squealed. "WE'RE GETTING A PUPPY!"

"Hold it there, Vega, we're dog sitting, for about a year, with the guy coming home periodically to visit his pets." Jade corrected. "But, it's more space, even if it's just the cottage he has set up as a guest sweet, and we'll be able to see how I get along with dogs. Maybe, as time goes on, we'll get you one. Maybe."

Tori lept, hugging her girl tight. "Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" She blurted out as she held the pale girl.

Jade smiled. "Hay, I'm not all bad, and I do love animals. I just hate cats, cause they always think their better then you are. But dogs, yes, their annoyingly cheery, but how can you hate an animal that just loves without condition. That would be like hating Cat."

Tori had pulled back but hadn't let go of her girl yet. "So, why don't we find someone to sublet the place tomorrow? Right now, I have other things on my mind."

"Like?" Jade asked, enjoying seeing Tori so happy.

"Well, there haven't been any cuddle bunnies in this house for over a week, and I feel I need to make up for lost time." Tori cooed.

"I love being with you, but I didn't do this for the sex." Jade stated. "I did this cause I wanted to see you happy. Gods, when did that happen? I used to be so cold hearted, and now..."

"Who said the sex was for you?" Tori asked, pulling gently on her girlfriends hand. Jade didn't bother to resist, as she led the other girl into the bedroom.

:}

So, thoughts? I'd love to hear.


End file.
